2012年10月16日星期二

LEAD - The Silent Killer

Lead, a heavy
metal that is primarily used as paint colour pigment. Lead is also added to
paint to speed drying, increase durability, retain a fresh appearance, and
resist moisture, which causes corrosion.

Although lead
improves paint performance, it is extremely toxic to living organisms
especially to children under age six whose bodies are still developing. According
to US Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) and US Environmental Protection Agency(US EPA), lead causes nervous system damage behavior and learning problems,
such as hyperactivity, slowed growth, headaches, hearing loss, stunted growth,
reduced IQ, and delayed development. It can cause kidney damage and affects every
organ system of the body. Lead is also dangerous to adults as well causing reproductive
problems in both women and men, high blood pressure and hypertension, nervous
disorders, memory and concentration problems. The most common pathway of
childhood lead exposure is through ingestion of lead dust through normal
hand-to-mouth contact during which children swallow lead dust dislodged from
deteriorated paint or leaded dust generated during remodeling or painting.

Recalled Lead Painted Toys - USA

Mental
health problems are on a surge in many developed cities and medical
professional are blaming the causes to high psychological tension and working
pressure. In actual case, our community is constantly under the increasing
threat of indoor pollutant and LEAD is one of them. Lead is a silent killer
because people are exposed to lead in paint from various routes without any
notice. Buildings painted with lead paint either on the interior or exterior,
furniture & wood millworks may have higher concentrations of lead in the
dust. Children are most susceptible to exposure as they have frequent
hand-to-mouth contact and play close to the ground where paint dust collects.
Children can also be exposed to lead from paint on furniture, toys, playground
equipment, and other products.

It is extremely difficult for Hong Kong consumers to evaluate whether our furniture paint or varnishes, wall paint and door paint are lead-free.USA regulated lead based paint since 1978 but there are
still plentiful of paints with significant
lead content used in the industry; solvent-based enamel paint is still
widely used for painting doors, wood furniture, decorative moldings, toys and industrial
applications. Hong Kong does not have a stringent regulation imposed on
lead-based paint for residential and school use. Due to cost concerns, majority
of our renovation products are manufactured or assembled in China.

Recalled Lead Painted
Baby Furniture - Canada

A recent study examining lead concentration in paint of 10 developing
countries, China being one of them and the results are alarming. 68% of the new
paints tested exceed the US standard of 90ppm (effective August 2009). China is
one of the countries that has imposed regulation on lead in paint but Lead
Levels in New Residential Paint (2006-2009) shows 56% ≥ 600 ppm and 44% ≥
5,000 ppm. (Clark CS, Rampal KG, Thuppil V Clark R, Roda S. The lead content of currently available new
residential paint in several Asian countries. Environ Res 2006; 102:9-12).